tplife
SoCal
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mlts22 wrote:Another trick with air mattresses -- Get a couple of the Mylar "space blankets". Lay those down between the mattress and the tent floor. Then lay a set between the mattress and your bedding. This helps significantly in keeping warm, even when the ambient temperature was in the low 20s.
Of course, a good tent heater like a Mr. Buddy was a big help. Just make sure to get an adapter and a large propane bottle for it unless you like waking up every 3-4 hours to change the little bottles.
So-called "space blankets" are useless and don't provide any insulation, actually, they're conductors. From "Traditional Mountaineering", people who know and aren't in the plastic-sheet marketing business:
"What should I know about emergency space blankets?
We were snowshoeing the other day with folks who did not seem to be prepared for an adventure even a couple of miles back into the snowbound wilderness. They used a small "fanny pack". I asked them what they would do to protect themselves during an emergency stop for an injured or lost companion, or if the weather closed down to hard wind driven snow with trails and ways disappeared. All of them said they had a "space blanket" to keep them warm.
There-in lies the danger!
I have heard this claim before, that "a space blanket can be used for warmth". I have always said the term space blanket is a misnomer, the thin plastic sheet is neither a miracle material nor a blanket.
It is well known that heat is lost from the body in 5 ways: Convection, Conduction, Radiation, Evaporation and Respiration. Excessive heat loss causes hypothermia.
"Blankets" trap air for insulation, the thicker the blanket the higher the insulation rating. Blankets do not add heat (unless the blanket is warmed in a hospital situation).
A thin plastic sheet has no insulating qualities, indeed, the plastic immediately becomes as cold as the snow or the wind blown air and will immediately conduct that cold through wet clothing to the body. A space blanket is not a blanket! If you lie down on a plastic space blanket placed on the snow the cold will immediately be conducted to your compressed clothing. You must carry extra insulating clothing layers and an insulating ensolite pad!"
Having a rudimentary understanding of thermodynamics, I believe this explanation much more than the marketing claims for "Space Blankets". This is why we don't now and never will own a so-called "Space Blanket".  For emergencies, the "Thermo-Lite® Emergency Bivvy Sacks" is the preferred carry to retain body heat.
People's Republik of Kalifornia
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mlts22
Austin, Texas
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Joined: 11/15/2010
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The mylar sheeting isn't for insulating/conducting properties. What it supposed to be there for would be to reflect IR and heat radiation. The insulation would be the bedding (which I learned to layer heavily). Maybe I'm wrong, but it did seem to work. Texas winters are not bad, but below freezing can be nasty for anyone who isn't prepared.
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Tyme4ToPlay
SW Indiana
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Joined: 06/05/2011
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I'll admit, I didn't read through all five pages of this topic yet, so this might be repetitive, but I don't like fooling with air beds and I have no desire to sleep on the ground. I bought a Coleman folding cot from Walmart for around $40 and have used it many times. It does take up more room than the kind that break all the way down, but the comfort is worth it. It slides right behind the front seats of my small 2 door car and hauls just fine. I also fold up other flat items in it to save space. It may be packed to the gills, but I haul everything for camping in my 2 door Pontiac Sunfire and have never left anything that I really wanted to take at home just because I didn't have room.
I'll be 50 in November, and though it's no fun to admit, I'm overweight and push the upper 225lbs weight limit on this cot, but I've never had a problem with it. It's actually very comfortable.
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Serenlyretired
San Fransisco Bay area
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As a guy who just spent 3 full months in my Jayco Quest 10X I would never give it up.
Having said that we also occasionally tent camp including a week in New Mexico last summer & a planned trip to Southern Utah this year.
We do have a good air queen size mattress & a superior pump for the same.
We like this a great deal but as I said I love my Jayco.
PS I am 69 & my wife is 59.
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JayWalker2009
USA
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Joined: 08/11/2009
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mlts22 wrote:Another trick with air mattresses -- Get a couple of the Mylar "space blankets". Lay those down between the mattress and the tent floor. Then lay a set between the mattress and your bedding. This helps significantly in keeping warm, even when the ambient temperature was in the low 20s.
Of course, a good tent heater like a Mr. Buddy was a big help. Just make sure to get an adapter and a large propane bottle for it unless you like waking up every 3-4 hours to change the little bottles.
I think it might have been your layered bedding that kept you warm, vs the space "blankets".
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georgehebert
Santa Rosa, California
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Essie !!
It all depends how often you go camping and for how long of duration. I tent camp out of 08 Mercury Grand Marquis and I am 76 with a new knee. No problem, but I only camp for a month once a year. A Truck Camper is great or a Van camper is very handy and always ready to go. I would prefer the Van Camper because of its versatility and no storage requirement when not in use. It depends how much space you require and the weather conditions you are capable of enduring.
George
Pulsar!!
USA goes to the left.tfix2@earthlink.net
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tplife
SoCal
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JayWalker2009 wrote:mlts22 wrote:Another trick with air mattresses -- Get a couple of the Mylar "space blankets". Lay those down between the mattress and the tent floor. Then lay a set between the mattress and your bedding. This helps significantly in keeping warm, even when the ambient temperature was in the low 20s.
Of course, a good tent heater like a Mr. Buddy was a big help. Just make sure to get an adapter and a large propane bottle for it unless you like waking up every 3-4 hours to change the little bottles.
I think it might have been your layered bedding that kept you warm, vs the space "blankets".
Space Blankets are conductors, not insulators. While the bedding kept you warm, you were continuously giving up calories while sleeping due to the hollow tubes of the air mattress. They will get colder and colder until they are the exact same temp as the outside air, this is called "equilibrium". While you sleep on them, they are sucking the heat out of you and your blankets to achieve equilibrium. In effect, when you use a cot or an air mattress, you are sleeping on a block of ice. Great on those hot summer nights when you want to crank up the AC, foolish when temps drop below 50-degrees F. Your only route to prevent this is by running a heater like the Buddy all night long which prevents that by warming the surrounding air above 50-degrees F. A cot has the exact same effect, like the air mattress tubes the empty air space underneath will get colder and colder until it's the same as the outside air, if you're sleeping on it you're transferring your body heat through your sleeping bag into the empty air underneath. Buy a self-inflating sleeping pad and get much more restful sleep. This is old-school knowledge that's difficult to get because the camping outlets make so much money selling equipment that if not properly used is downright dangerous. Anything for a sale!
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artfd
Ohio
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Most of my camping involves sleeping in the back of my DIY pickup shell, with a tall roof and a bunk shelf covered with a couple of foam pads and a self-inflating sleeping pad. I have installed very sturdy nylon straps on the roof of my shell, located & designed so I can hook either arm in them to roll over or to sit up on the bed, which is the same distance off the floor as my bed at home is, so no difficulty getting up. I have a flannel sheet, light sleeping bag that unfolds & can be used as a quilt, and a superwarm down sleeping bag for really rough conditions. I can sleep comfortably in this shell down to about 10 above. Since my shell is insulated, I can warm it up to about 60 degrees inside 10 or so minutes after turning on a propane stove full blast -- this is only used to get ready to go to bed, or to get out of bed in very cold conditions, never while I'm sleeping. However, I do travel with a small popup tent & an air mattress -- I like the extra space and comfort these provide, but only deploy them in exactly the right conditions. Place that are wet, buggy or bear-ridden tend to leave my tent undeployed.
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artfd
Ohio
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Years ago I went on a campout with a 78 year old cousin. He wanted to use his tent, I & my mother used a slide on camper. Weather & other conditions were delightful, it was a group campout & someone else did all the cooking. His main problem was getting up off his mattress every morning, his knees interfered with his standing up from that position. His knees were so bad he couldn't even enter our camper up its stairs. So his companions would come over when he hollered & pull him upright. I don't recall what he did in the middle of the night when he had to get up to relieve himself. Some things you don't want to know.
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dogcomestoo
Massachusetts
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They make pop up campers small enough to be towed by a motorcycle- so I'm sure you could find one your new vehicle could tow. The teardrop trailers are adorable and practical, too.
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